Might Have Been a Song on the Radio
by slynn4983
Summary: Back from Neverland, Emma is unsure of what to do. So she gets drunk and lets her heart decide for her.
1. Breaking Down

Story and chapter titles come from the song that inspired this fic(Drunk Last Night- Eli Young Band). And while the song was my inspiration, it doesn't actually relate to the story much, if at all.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. Zip. I just borrow. If I owned it, things would be much different on the show and we could all be much happier and certainly not waiting months for a continuation from that ending!

**Chapter 1:** Breaking Down

Emma was alone in the apartment. David and Mary Margaret had gone out for the night and made it pretty clear not to expect their return. Henry was with Regina for the night.

Emma knew it was only fair. They had been home for a week and it was the first time that Regina had any quality alone time with him.

On the other hand, she wasn't sure it was such a good idea for her to be left on her own. Emma had made it all of five minutes alone before the wine came out. It was maybe another two minutes before the radio got turned on as well.

Wine normally would not have been her first choice but it seemed to be what Mary Margaret had on hand.

Emma was laying on the couch with her half empty glass of wine in hand. She preferred not to think about just how empty the bottle itself was…

She wasn't able to stop herself from thinking about the mess her life had been since their return. Henry's return had, thankfully, gone smoothly. She was not prepared for any more unnecessary drama.

And that was why, ever since their return, she had been avoiding Killian.

_Hook!_ She corrected herself mentally. Angrily.

Honestly, she didn't even understand how she remembered the name. She had only heard it once and at that time, remembering his name didn't even come close to her top one hundred priorities.

It was dangerous to think of him that way though. What if she called him by his name? What if Neal heard her? Henry?

Worse yet, what if Killian did?

But she had expected for it to be difficult. She thought he would notice and care that she was avoiding him. She wasn't sure which one it was, but apparently he didn't.

She shouldn't care that he didn't care.

She couldn't stop thinking about him.

It wasn't fair. She should at least be given the chance to consider all of her options. And this certainly wasn't the fun that she had been promised.

Neal wanted her back. Henry wanted them to be a happy family. That should be a nice option. But she couldn't even think of it past that.

She had loved Neal at one point. But she wasn't that same girl. And the hurt that he had caused her? She couldn't just forget about that and accept him back into her life. She could accept that he needed to be in her life. He needed and deserved to be in Henry's. But she couldn't just be with him again.

Could she be with Killian though? It was selfish. It would hurt those close to her.

It would make her happy.

Maybe the problem was that there wasn't anything for her to really decide. You can't make a choice when there was only ever one option.

Emma grabbed her purse and went out into the cold rain.


	2. Drunk Last Night

**Chapter 2:** Drunk Last Night

Emma woke up the next morning. The first thing that she was aware of was how much her head hurt. Next she became aware of the fact that she didn't know whose bed she was in.

She didn't remember much of last night. Not after having left the apartment.

What the hell had she been thinking?

The answer to that question might actually answer a few of the others that she had as well.

"Good morning lass."

The voice startled her, for multiple reasons. She sat up and searched for its owner and found him sitting at the desk across the room. She finally recognized that she was in one of the inn's rooms at Granny's.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

"Having a few memory lapses?" Killian's smirk came across his face as he spoke.

"Last night, I may have been slightly…" Emma struggled with her word choices.

"Drunk." He finished for her. "I noticed." He winked at her before he stood to stretch.

"Did you sleep in that chair?" She looked at him confused.

"I am a gentleman, lass. Not a saint. If you think for one minute that I could lay in that bed with you after all those lovely things you said to me last night and not touch you, you know nothing about a man's limits."

"I don't understand. Nothing happened last night?"

"I wouldn't say that. I found you out in the rain in the middle of the night. You told me that you had been looking for me. I told you that it must be my lucky night. And then you started yelling at me."

"I yelled at you? About what?"

"How I needed to stay out of your thoughts. How I wasn't supposed to leave. How I was supposed to care about you."

Emma was trying desperately to remember. The only thing she could remember was the feel of his lips against hers. She brought her fingers up and pulled at her bottom lip. That memory seemed to be very different than the one she had of Neverland and too realistic to be a dream. "We kissed?"

Killian sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. "We did. And that's why I need to know now that last night was real."

"I don't even know what happened last night." Emma said defensively.

He wanted to argue with her but knew that it would just be counterproductive. He still couldn't take his eyes off the floor as he spoke though. "You told me that you cared for me."

Emma put her feet on the ground on the opposite side of the bed. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair to organize it neatly behind her ears. "Yeah, well, I was drunk last night. And I didn't know what I was saying. And you've never been clear on what you feel for me." Emma paused and decided to add, "Or how you don't feel."

He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. They were looking into each other's eyes and they were both half on the bed. "I have never been anything other than clear about how I feel about you. Since Neverland, it has been very obvious how strong my feelings are for you."

"And since we've been back from there, you haven't even tried to see me or noticed that I was avoiding you. That doesn't let me know how much you care."

"As I already explained, I promised Baelfi- Neal that I would give him his fair shot and not get in the way of his family as long as I thought that was what would make you happy."

Emma looked down at the bed, "You wanted me with another man to make me happy?" She wasn't sure what to make of that. It seemed sweet… but not quite right.

Killian placed his hand on her cheek and raised her face so that their gazes were even, "I never want you with another man. But I'll always want you to be happy. So, if you could just let me know what you are feeling, I would know how to make that happen."

"I can't. Henry…" Emma trailed off as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"What does he have to do with this?"

Emma jumped off of the bed. "He's my son. I need to make him happy. And he wants me to get back together with Neal."

"So, you do want to be with him then?" Killian's gaze was lowered to the bed.

"NO!" Emma said vehemently. Emma kneeled on the bed and put his face in her hands, forcing his gaze to meet hers. "No. After everything, I couldn't even if I wanted to be with him. But I'm not in love with him."

"I don't know everything, but I know he hurt you lass. I understand that. I would NEVER do that to you."

"I believe you." Emma assured him. She stroked his jaw several times before letting her hands drop.

"You seemed to want something more from me last night." Killian seemed like he had more he wanted to say but he felt entirely too bold with what he had already said to continue.

"Last night was just bad. I was alone. I was drunk. I was…" Emma trailed off having run out of adjectives that she was comfortable identifying herself with.

"Would it be so horrible to care for me then?" Killian was growing upset with the situation and he was beginning to let it show.

"Yes it would." Emma shouted, moving her gaze to the floor now. "It just wouldn't be fair to anyone, least of all you." He could only look at her with his confusion plain on his face. "I'm damaged goods, Killian. Between Neal and my parents' abandonment of me, I'm just not worth the effort. And with all of their righteous justifications I can't even truly be angry with them."

He ran his fingers under her chin now and forced her to look him in the eye, "You are worth every effort."

She forcefully turned her gaze away. She couldn't stand for him to look at her that way. It made everything much more difficult. "Maybe it seems that way to you... But I would…"

Killian moved to stand in front of Emma and leaned his forehead down onto hers before interrupting her, "Love, listen. Life isn't easy. It isn't meant to be. It's hard and it's painful. And while I wish I could take all that away for you, I can't. But I can promise if we're together I can make those times bearable. I will always be there to support and comfort you. And I'll do what I can to make sure the good times are as good as they can get to make those difficult times seem like nothing."

A tear streamed down Emma's cheek. She whispered, "I think I love you Killian."

He didn't hesitate as he let his lips crash down onto hers.


	3. Too Tired to Fight

I didn't think it would take nearly this long to update this story, and for that I would like to sincerely apologize. However, my muse just had plans that differed greatly from mine. Disclaimer: I didn't recently win the lottery and make any large purchases. Translation: Still not mine.

Alas, this is the final chapter. And this wasn't what I was expecting when I first started this story but this is somehow what I wound up writing. I hope you can enjoy it nevertheless...

**Chapter 3:** Too Tired to Fight

Much later that day…

There had been a debate as they were getting dressed. Emma hadn't wanted to leave but she needed to get Henry. At first, she had told him that he couldn't join her.

She could immediately tell that he had taken that comment the wrong way by his hurt expression. That wasn't what she wanted.

She was tired of fighting with Killian. She was now only determined to fight for him and for Henry.

And that was how they wound up walking down the street with their fingers intertwined. The smile would not leave Emma's face. She was happy. And she was okay with ignoring everyone's reactions. She just wanted to focus on Killian for a little while longer before she told the other most important man in her life of the news.

She was surprised when they reached Regina's house.

Regina smirked at the couple as she opened the door.

Emma looked pointedly at their joined hands, "Regina, I understand that Henry might be upset with me. And he might therefore want to spend the next couple of days here. Under normal circumstances I would be okay with that. But I think it would be best if you don't allow that. He shouldn't be able to play us against one another."

Regina's smirk stayed in place, "Henry is always welcome here. But I agree with you on your point. I don't agree that he's going to be upset."

"Who's here, Regina?" Neal asked as he came into the entryway. Emma looked startled by his presence and Regina smirked.

"Emma? What are you doing here?" Neal paused briefly. "This isn't what it looks like."

"What does it look like?" Emma asked confused.

Neal grabbed her right hand and placed it on his chest. He didn't even notice how her other hand was still entwined with Killian's. "I'm not here for her. I'm here for Henry. I don't want anything to do with her."

Killian ground his teeth together and refused to speak. Emma pulled her hand off of Neal's chest and back to her side.

"Not entirely true." Regina disagreed. "He is here for me. But it's more about you. About how I should not teach you magic."

Neal quickly turned to glare at her.

"Why would you tell me that?" Emma asked, confused.

"With Henry, the two of us need to have a good friendship. And the first important step for that is trust. Without honesty there is no trust." Regina explained.

"Why would you care whether or not I use magic? This makes no sense."

"I love you, Emma. I want to be with you. But magic? It can lead to no good. I can't deal with it anymore."

"I didn't ask you to."

Neal glanced down and finally noticed Emma's tight hold on Killian's hand. He shook his hand in complete disbelief. "So this is how it is?"

Emma was exasperated by this already. "We're not together, we haven't been together. I haven't wanted to be with you for a long time, Neal. I didn't mean for you to find out this way but you do need to know."

"You were meant for me." Neal argued. "What about Henry?"

"Henry is your son. And I will not keep you from him. However, I'm not yours. You don't have a say in how I spend my time or who I spend it with."

Neal snorted in disgust, "Whatever. Don't come to me when he betrays you." Neal pushed past them as he exited the house in a hurry.

"Henry's upstairs." Regina said as she walked into the kitchen.

Killian pulled Emma by her hand so that she was facing him, "Love, I would never…"

She brought her other hand up to cup his cheek. "I know. He's hurting. It'll take time, but he'll get over it. Or he won't. Either way, I'm not getting over you." He turned his head to kiss her palm as she smiled at him reassuringly. Then she reluctantly let go of his hand so that she could go to Henry.

She knocked on his door as she opened it. Henry immediately smiled at her as he greeted, "Mom!"

"Hey kid." Emma responded awkwardly. She didn't know how to start this conversation. She didn't think it should be this difficult. But it was…

He eyed her worriedly, "What's going on?"

Emma ran her hand down his arm as she sat down next to him on the bed, "Listen, you know I love you, right?"

"Yeah," He started hesitantly, "I love you too, mom."

"This has nothing to do with you. Well, it has to do with you. Every part of my life concerns you. But it's not like you did something bad or wrong so I can't pick him. I just mean. I don't regret having you. I mean, I'm not with him because I wish you weren't in my life. Not that I think you would think that. It's just I don't regret my time with your father. It can't continue." Emma babbled quickly.

"Mom, stop. You're not making any sense. Slow down and explain."

"I can't be with your father. I have feelings for Killian."

"Captain Hook?"

Emma bit her bottom lip nervously, "Yeah?"

"Awesome!"

"You're not upset?"

Henry's confusion swiftly returned, "Why would I be upset?"

"I just thought that you really wanted us to get back together?"

"I guess that would have been nice too. But it's not like anything else about our family is exactly traditional. And all I really want is for each of us to be happy. You can't make dad happy if you don't want to be with him. And you certainly wouldn't be happy with him then either."

Emma hugged him close as she kissed his forehead, "Thank you."

Henry smiled as he questioned teasingly, "Do you think a pirate can really make you happy?"

"Yeah Henry, I have a feeling that he really can."

*~*KE~*~KE*~*KE~*~

1 year later…

Nobody could say that the last year had been perfect. But life wasn't ever meant to be perfect.

And it had been good. Really good.

Emma had predicted correctly and Neal had, eventually, realized that he and Emma weren't meant to be. Neither of them were who they had been when they were together. And he realized that he wouldn't be happy with the woman she had become.

Henry had been right too. Their family hasn't been traditional in any real way. But they had been able to make it work out. All of the additions may have made things crazier, but it also amplified the happy moments.

The fairy tales no longer seemed so hard for Emma to believe. She could have said the same thing when she first came to Storybrooke, but back then it was because magic and happily-ever-afters seemed all too impossible. Now they were becoming more of an everyday occurrence. Not that anything in her life was nearing an end…

And Henry knew without a doubt that she hadn't lied to him a year ago. The pirate has been more than capable of making the princess unbelievably happy…


End file.
